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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Study of Principal Investigator-Led Missions in the Space
Sciences
NASA (posted: 11/23/04)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space
science program has sponsored competitively selected missions,
led and managed by principal investigators, since the 1970s.
The Explorer program, the first of the PI-led mission lines,
is designated for astronomy and solar/space physics missions
and allows researchers to propose, on a somewhat regular basis,
investigations of emerging scientific questions. Drawing on
the successful Explorer model, the planetary sciences program
introduced the Discovery line of PI-led missions in 1994.
Like the Explorers, these missions are intended to enable
relatively rapid response to new ideas for scientific exploration.
The Discovery program has been operating for nearly 10 years,
and recent and recurring problems suggest the need for a mid-course
correction.
The Academy team
along with a committee of the National Research Council’s
Space Studies Board will review principal-investigator-class
space mission programs in NASA’s Office of Space Science.
These programs include the Explorer and Discovery lines of
PI-led missions. The full range of areas to be examined include:
- the selection process and objectives
for PI-led missions, including the balance between science
objectives and cost and management criteria,
- the roles, relationships, and authority
among members of the PI-team (e.g., PI, university, industry,
agency field center) in past missions,
- the principal factors that have affected
the scientific and technical performance of previous PI-led
missions,
- the factors contributing to cost overruns
of missions, including any requirements that are imposed
on PI-led projects during their development,
- opportunities for knowledge transfer
to new PIs and sustained technical management experience
throughout the program, and
- lessons learned and recommend practices
and incentives for improving the overall conduct of future
PI-led missions.
The Academy’s role will focus
primarily on No. 4—the factors contributing to cost overruns
of missions, and to some extent No. 1—the selection process
and objectives for PI-led missions and No. 2—the roles,
relationships, and authority among members of the PI-team.
Bill Lilly
Starting
The Academy has appointed the following individuals to
a Panel to oversee and direct the study. The public may
send comments on the composition of the panel for a period
of seven (7) days following the posted date to mditmeyer@napawash.org.
John
G. Stewart (Chair) - Partner,
Stewart, Wright & Associates, LLC. Former Executive Director,
Consortium of Research Institutions; Vice President, Resource
Development, Manager of Corporate Administration, and Manager
of Planning and Budget, Tennessee Valley Authority; Member,
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration; Staff Director, Subcommittee on Science,
Technology, and Space, U.S. Senate; Staff Director, Subcommittee
on Energy, Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress; Executive
Assistant to the Vice President of the United States.
Herbert N. Jasper
- Senior Consultant, McManis-Monsalve Associates, Inc. Former
Executive Vice President, American Council for Competitive
Telecommunications; Specialist in American Government, Congressional
Research Service; Legislative Counsel, Research Director and
Chief Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare;
Assistant Director, Office of Legislative Reference; Assistant
Chief, Government Organization Branch, U.S. Bureau of the
Budget.
TBD
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